Chapter 138: Finding the Stairs to the 5th Floor
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 138: Finding the Stairs to the 5th Floor
We were out of time.
We had to find the stairs to the 5th floor while the Glutton was attacking Bearhim's Garden. This was our last golden opportunity.
“Caleb.”
Clorence agreed to my proposal, but…
“Does the Glutton know the location of Bearhim's Garden?”
He was curious about that part.
Judging by his expression, he’d been after the Aether Mushrooms.
I’d also heard the rumors, which floated around like legends, during my time at the Labyrinth Union and the Adventurer’s Guild.
They said you could gain immense power by finding Bearhim's Garden, a special area on the 6th floor, and eating the Aether Mushrooms.
It was true, but the process of finding Bearhim's Garden was quite tricky.
So how does the Glutton find it?
“The Glutton has a spell called Void Ink.”
When cast, pitch-black soot flows into the air, spreading like octopus ink in water. The ink then transmits information about anything it touches back to the Glutton.
The mechanism was very simple, but its effect was considerable because the ink’s range was enormous.
It was a spell that, when used inside the Void Waterfall, would cover the entire area, ensuring that any adventurer hiding within was found.
It wouldn't be quite as effective out in the field, but it would still cover about thirty percent of the map.
“It’ll probably use that to find Bearhim's Garden.”
In other words, we had to avoid the ink. If our location was exposed, we could become the Glutton’s next target.
“If you see the ink, do not touch it under any circumstances!”
The black ink particles, floating in the air like soap bubbles, were visible everywhere.
In some areas, a large amount of ink had covered the ground, forming something like a small river.
“That place is completely contaminated…”
In another spot, the ink had swallowed a mushroom forest, creating a scene that looked as if an oil tanker had overturned in the woods.
The entire 6th floor was a mess because of the 7th floor's special boss.
“We can’t cross this part on foot.”
Some areas were impossible to traverse while avoiding the ink with normal human agility.
But we were mid-floor adventurers.
“Dorothy.”
Richard reached out to Dorothy, and she let the orc warrior take her by the waist.
“If you would.”
“Hmph!”
Richard jumped, holding Dorothy at his side.
Barbarian's Long Jump.
It was the same skill the barbarian Greg had used to escape the ossuary rooftop on the 1.5th floor.
I’d heard that Western orcs sometimes learned it too.
“Ethereal Blink.”
Clorence crossed as well.
“Doll Flight.”
The dwarf Kudrum activated his combat doll’s flight mode and had it carry him across.
It was like Miles carrying Sonic.
“…”
I was the only one without a movement skill!
“I’ll throw you, Caleb.”
The escape from the 1.5th floor was briefly reenacted. On the other side, the orc warrior Richard caught me.
Aimus had an awesome movement and charge skill called Rhinoceros Horn, but it required him to be on the ground.
‘Shadow Leap!’
He crossed over with Back Attack.
‘Warden’s Relocation.’
Yernil did the same.
The party’s sprint continued unimpeded.
Even when we encountered difficult obstacles…
‘Rhinoceros Horn.’
The iron staff monk would simply charge forward like a raging rhino, and that was that.
It was a skill specialized in destroying fortified enemies or barricades.
The 200% increase in movement speed was great, but what was even better was that its damage increased by 1% for every meter traveled.
CRASH!
Even the giant mushrooms lined up like a fortress wall couldn't stop Aimus’s charge.
“Let’s go!”
The eight adventurers charged forward like an armored vehicle speeding down a highway.
Thanks to Clorence’s party, we could brute-force our way through most of the mushrooms we encountered.
Before long, we found the gate to the stairs.
“Shit.”
But we couldn't get in.
*
Normally, to get to the next floor in the Labyrinth, you had to descend about ten meters down a spiral staircase.
That would lead to a small, enclosed space like a balcony room, where a gate would be open on the front wall.
Passing through it took you to the next floor.
That was the unwritten rule of the Labyrinth.
So what would you see if you went to the next floor and looked back?
A ‘wall’ containing the gate.
A massive brick wall, four meters wide and five meters tall.
Such brick structures were almost nonexistent in the pandemonium of the mushroom forest, and their considerable size made them relatively easy to spot.
But what we found wasn't a wall.
It was a ‘room.’
Instead of just one wall, all four walls of a rectangle stood tall, and it was even covered by a ceiling.
To be more precise, one of the sides wasn't a wall but…
“A Faithful Iron Door.”
Recognizing the Tier 8 spell, Clorence’s shoulders slumped in defeat.
“This… is unbreakable.”
“What the fuck is this!”
The orc warrior Richard slammed his foot against the door.
“Why the hell is there a door here!”
“Richard, you’ll reopen your wounds.”
The priestess Dorothy pulled at his arm.
“Never enter the Labyrinth after an eruption.”
Kudrum muttered.
“The Labyrinth is extremely unstable, and you never know what strange phenomena might occur…”
“Are you sure these are the stairs to the 5th floor?”
Aimus asked.
“Yes, this should be it.”
Clorence answered with a sigh, pulling out a cigarette and sticking it in his mouth, clearly frustrated.
I agreed with Clorence.
We had traveled a considerable distance from where we landed, and it was reasonable to assume the stairs would be around here.
More importantly, brick structures like this only ever appeared at a stair gate.
Still, I might as well check.
“Yernil, can you hear a humming sound beyond the wall? The sound of the gate.”
“Yes. I can hear it.”
That confirmed it.
“Let’s just break this wall down.”
Aimus raised his iron staff.
“The wall can’t be broken.”
Even in the game, the gate ‘wall’ was an indestructible object.
I could guarantee it, because I had tried almost everything possible in the game to break it and failed every time.
If we were to break anything, it would have to be the ‘Faithful Iron Door.’
But that was also impossible. How could a bunch of small-fry adventurers from the 5th and 6th floors possibly break a Faithful Iron Door?
“Fuck.”
The orc fighter Richard had finally reached the end of his rope.
He was a highly skilled adventurer, but still only at the mid-floor level. He had likely overcome countless life-threatening situations, but this was probably the first time he’d faced something so hopeless.
“Fuck! You sons of bitches! I knew it. I fucking knew this would happen!”
Half-panicked, he suddenly roared at our party.
“Richard! Calm down!”
Clorence, who had been about to light his cigarette, shouted.
But Richard didn't stop.
“Nowhere you bastards go is ever safe! A freak boss probably crawled up from the 7th floor because a fucker like you is here!”
For a second, I flinched, thinking he meant me, but a closer look showed Richard's finger was pointing at Back Attack.
“What the hell? Why are you suddenly bitching at me!”
Back Attack had actually told me a little about him before we joined Clorence’s team.
They knew each other.
“You were a cursed man in the West, and you're a cursed man here, Back Attack.”
“Oh yeah? You sure it's my fault? Then why don't you try slitting my throat right now!”
Back Attack shoved his head into the orc’s chest.
“Go on! Do it! If I die, I guess that octopus head will just politely return to the 7th floor, right? The exit bosses will escort you home one by one? Give you a goodbye kiss, too?”
“…”
The orc’s brow twitched in fury.
Richard, the orc fighter who wielded an enormous greatsword called a Zhanmadao.
He was quite famous in the Adventurer’s Guild.
He had shown overwhelming skill as soon as he debuted as a 1st-floor adventurer and was scouted by a promising 2nd-floor party. That same party had been about to head to the 3rd floor when their plans were canceled because their rogue disappeared.
Can you guess what happened?
The new rogue that party recruited was Back Attack.
Back Attack, who had been kicked out (?) of Aimus's party at the time, had joined them.
“Back then, our party members were lukewarm about you, since you were an outsider from the West and a beginner, but I was the one who strongly recommended you. And what did you do?”
“…”
“Three days before we were supposed to enter the Labyrinth, you suddenly ran off into it alone without a word and disappeared.”
“Richard.”
Aimus quickly stepped in.
“That was my fault. I'm sorry.”
“This isn't your fault, Monk, so stay out of it. I'm talking to him.”
Richard waved Aimus off and turned back to Back Attack.
“Our trap detection specialist suddenly went missing right before a run. How do you think we felt?”
“Then you should've just skipped a damn run!”
“Andersen and Sonya. They both had three family members to feed! If we didn't enter the Labyrinth right then, their kids would have starved!”
“…”
“We were all as careful as we could be, but we ended up stepping on a trap. I was the only one who survived.”
Richard said.
“You killed them, Back Attack.”
“No…”
“You let the party that took you in die just to save the party that kicked you out.”
“Shit, I had no choice back then…”
“That’s not true. You were the same in the West. Everyone who went on a mission with you, everyone involved with you, died one way or another. Either because your irresponsible, emotional, solo actions screwed up the plan, or simply because you bring disaster with you. Just like…”
BAM!
Richard slammed his fist against the wall.
“Now.”
“Richard.”
Clorence took a frustrated drag from his cigarette and patted Richard’s shoulder.
“Calm down. We need to work together to sort this out.”
“I guarantee you, we're better off without this bastard. Things will only get more fucked up with him around.”
“Then,”
Back Attack sneered.
“Why did you let ‘cursed’ me into your party?”
“What?”
“You said everyone who works with me dies, right? So why did you let a ‘cursed’ guy like me into that party?”
Back Attack shoved Richard’s chest.
“Wasn't it because you were the only one from the West?”
“…”
“It must've been hard for you to fit in, coming from a different background than the young masters of Sohen. Huh? So you needed someone who'd had it worse than you, someone who'd rolled around in the mud, didn't you!”
“Don't assume everyone is like you.”
Richard scoffed.
“You're the one who's having a hard time fitting in. It's tough for you in this party too, isn't it?”
Back Attack’s eyebrow twitched.
“You're the only one who's cursed.”
“Both of you, calm down.”
Whatever bad blood was between them, the fact they were fighting at a time like this meant they were literally having a mental breakdown.
But I hadn't given up yet. I couldn't afford to waste time like this.
“Fighting amongst ourselves won't do us any good right now.”
To be honest, even I had never seen a Faithful Iron Door block the stairs' gate. I never saw it in the game, either.
However, given the nature of that magically summoned object, the Faithful Iron Door, I could guess its origin.
“Iron Door.”
I approached the door and spoke to it.
“Were you summoned by Bearhim?”
The face carved into the iron door smiled.
*
I had seen Bearhim’s corpse many times in the game.
And I had run all sorts of experiments on it.
Things like ‘Speak with Dead,’ or ‘Raise Dead Body.’
Or ‘Corpse Explosion.’
I had used every kind of spell that could be cast on the deceased.
I even tried healing magic like ‘Miraculous Revival’ and Tier 8 Taoist arts like ‘Viewing Death as Life.’
The conclusion I reached was this:
Bearhim was not dead.
For gods, death is a slightly different concept than it is for us. Those devoured by the Labyrinth didn't cease to exist; rather, they became a part of it.
Just like the girl possessed by a demon in the movie The Exorcist who shows the priest a ‘HELP ME’ message on her skin, the gods of the Labyrinth convey their will in certain ways.
The most prominent example of this is…
The ‘Fountain of Blessing.’
The fountain that grants power to adventurers is a manifestation of the will of the gods devoured by the Labyrinth.
Someone like Bearhim would have no trouble summoning a Tier 8 iron door. Could it be that he was the one who blocked the stairs?
-My master is not Bearhim.
Guess not.
That was a bit awkward.
-However, they did borrow Bearhim's power to summon me.
Then I think I knew who the door's master was.
-Come to Bearhim's Garden.
The special boss of the 6th floor, the ‘Gardener.’
The reason adventurers can't find Bearhim's Garden is that it's always moving.
Normally, it's hard to find unless the Gardener himself invites the adventurers.
Just like now.